Second Life

David SandersonAssignment #1 News card"A great tool for times of resession"As the present economic climate is pretty bleak companies and organisations are continualy searching for ways to accomodate their drop in budgets. One such tool is the virtual world of online communities. 'Second Life' is one example of a virtual world which is being widly used by many individuals in both a personal and professional capacity. Second life state that more than 1400 organisations including large companies, educational institutions and even government agencies use 'Second Life' to hold meetings and to conduct training. Users may meet online in a variety of environments from auditoriums and collaboration pods to social areas. The tool alows meetings to take place that if conducted in person could be a great strain on both time and financhial resources, meetings can be held accross the globe with very little expenditure in those areas. 'Second Life' are currently working on a tool which will allow companies to hold meetings on their own private networks where 3D avatars may meet and discuss company matters with a higher sense of security. The application of virtual worlds has a great deal of positive aspects which benefit a global community giving movement and opportunity to the most isolated individuals in the most remote parts of our planet.Source: cnn.com tech-news Nov 7 2009